Following is an excerpt from the Minnesota Trucking Association Newsletter dated 4.11.17 and thought we would share:
“STUDY ON ADDING SPLIT SLEEPER BERTH FLEXIBILITY TO HOURS OF SERVICE LIKELY TO BEGIN THIS YEAR
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) study to add split sleeper berth flexibility to hours of service may begin this year. The study would help determine whether drivers operating under more flexible conditions for sleeper berth are as safe as those operating under the current splits allowed in the hours of service regulation. During the study, research subjects would begin operating under more flexible conditions which would allow splitting their 10 off-duty hours into 5/5, 4/6 and 7/3 splits instead of the 10/0 and 8/2 allowed under the current regulations. Once the methodology of the study is approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, who has partnered with FMCSA for the study, will begin recruiting driver participants. Data collection is expected to begin in the fall of 2017. “